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Maple Town
Maple Town (JP: メイプルタウン物語,' ''Maple Town Stories') is a 1986 children's slice-of-life anime aimed at children ages 3-10 created by television writer Chifude Asakura and produced and animated by the studio Toei Animation. Plot Set around 1986-87 in an otherwise late 1920s-esque community, the story of the anime begins in its premiere episode, "Welcome to Maple Town". Patty Rabbit and her family arrive by train to a utopian community of anthropomorphic animals called Maple Town, Canada. Eventually, she befriends a bear her age named Bobby Bear. In the subsequent episodes, Patty, her friends, and her family have everyday experiences in the town. Meanwhile, a villainous wolf bandit named Wilde Wolf tries to disturb the peace with his mischievous deeds, only for them to mostly fail. In the series finale, "Patei no tabidachi", Patty leaves Maple Town with her aunt Jane Pika en route to Palm Town as a foreshadow to the events of its successor ''Palm Town. Episodes Main Article: List of Maple Town Episodes English Dub Tonka acquired the North American rights to the anime on October 1986. It was dubbed in English in Q1 1987 by Saban Entertainment and the Maltese Companies, with syndication rights by LBS Communications. The dub also adds live-action segments before and after episodes. They feature a human character Mrs. Maple (played by Janice Adams), providing every story's morals. In the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, the dub was promoted with its English slogan, "My Favorite Place to Be". Broadcasting In Japan, it aired on TV Asahi from January 19th, 1986 to January 11th, 1987 at 8:30 a.m. Its original run consisted of 52 24-minute episodes. The English dub was broadcast in the United States beginning in April 1987 on select stations such as FOX WNYW (New York's FOX affiliate) on Channel 5. It also ran on the children's cable channel Nickelodeon from September 1987 to January 1st, 1988. Afterward, it moved to Nickelodeon's preschool block "Nick Jr." on January 4th 1988 and ran until September 1st, 1989. In Canada, it aired on YTV on 10 AM from September 1st, 1988 to at least the early 1990's. It was also broadcast in such countries as France, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Italy, and Spain in its language dubs. Successor Maple Town had a successor which continues from the original called Palm Town, ''which ran from January 18th to December 27th of 1987. Reruns went well into 1990. Unlike its prequel, it was never shown in North America. Patty is the only character from ''Maple Town to appear, as Palm Town cut the rest of the cast from the original, but they make cameo appearances as background characters from time to time. Opening Sequences The following is a compilation of international opening sequences. Most share the original Japanese opening, but the beginning and end were replaced with the American animated segment of the toy commercials for the English dub. Each opening has a distinct theme song, but some share a dubbed theme song of the original Japanese one. Category:Content Category:TV Shows Category:Maple Town Category:Anime